The Art of Mapping - installation shots

The Art of Mapping Exhibition is now over but I thought i would share some photos of me installing my piece of work.

The birds waiting...

I start by sticking the birds up with blu tack, to work out the right arrangement

Once I am happy with the arrangement, I can then start pining

Which can be quite tricky, especially if the birds are up high

The main thing is to avoid ripping the birds.

And here they are all pinned.

I took the photos before the lighting had been sorted

But I had been at the gallery for 6 hours and felt the need to go home

Valencia - Street Art

The BF and I went on a trip to Valencia a couple of months ago.  It's a very beautiful place, with great food and a beach (which we took much advantage of).  There was also a lot of street art, here are some of my favourites.

This chap was across the street from our apartment

Falling cars

I think this might be political but am not sure

I love the mixtures of textures a patterns and the way the paintings are linked

Not sure what this is about...

Nor this one, it could be a religious comment, I love the attention to detail though

He had to sneak in

not strictly intentional street art, but it looks like a painting I'd like to make

The Art of Mapping

I am exhibiting a large installation in The Art of Mapping, and exhibition organised by TAG Fine Arts at The Air Gallery in Mayfair in London.  You can find the full details of the exhibition here .

The installation is called 'The Harbingers'.  It is a flock of over 60 Sparrows cut from Geological maps of the UK.

Sparrows are generally seen as pests and their numbers have declined rapidly.  They used to be a common site in London, but now are very rare. 

I love them, they are such feisty birds.  They really punch above their weight, taking on much bigger birds in the fight for food and are very cheeky.

They are also very beautiful, their markings are very beautiful.

I cut each bird by hand from old geological maps.  The colours on the maps are amazing.  I wanted highlight the beauty of the sparrows and hope that I can go some way to rehabilitate them and encourage people to see them in a different light.

Questions, Questions, Questions - Why do you cut them by Hand?

Detail of When do we stop counting - hand cut map

There are many reasons why I cut by hand, but mostly because I enjoy it.  I love the process involved with cutting, working with my hands to make something.  Yes my work could be cut by a machine but that would be a different type of art work.  Part of the enjoyment of cutting by hand is the ability to change things as I go along, to make mistakes, which lead me down different paths.

I'm not against using a laser cutting machine or a cutting machine that uses a knife for creating work, but my practice will always be about working by hand.  I enjoy the low-fi aspect of taking a knife and cutting, I like the control of it.  For me adding in a machine to the process will put a barrier between me and the work.

Next time, where my ideas come from (question from Kitty Killian)